Posts Tagged ‘news’

U.S. Figure Skating Memorial Fund Receives $1035 from MySkatingMall.com

Sunday, April 8th, 2012

Just last week, the U.S. Figure Skating Memorial Fund received a $1035 check from MySkatingMall.com!  This is an exciting milestone as it is the first time our donation has exceeded $1000.

A founding principle of MySkatingMall.com is that half of all commissions collected from the activity of our members goes to skating charities. In other words, whenever anyone hears about MySkatingMall.com, completes our free registration, buys or sells one of the 4,500 plus skating items on our site, then money is raised for grassroots skating. Please do everything you can to tell others about MySkatingMall.com so these checks can keep getting BIGGER!

MySkatingMall.com is the preferred location where skaters buy and sell new and gently used figure skating items. Chances are a few of your favorite skating retailers and brands are among our 24 Partner Stores. Check them out! You can see the full list by scrolling down on our homepage at MySkatingMall.com.

Thank you, THANK YOU for your participation and support of MySkatingMall.com and the U.S. Figure Skating Memorial Fund.

New Feature Added To Skating Club & Team Accounts!!!

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Picture 1Each skating group registered to raise funds through MySkatingMall.com can now see a list of every transaction that raised money for the group! The picture on the left is a screen shot from a club that is already benefiting from MySkatingMall.com.

We added this feature as a further sign of our desire for transparency and honesty in our relationships with figure skating clubs and teams.  This list allows your group to “audit” us and verify for yourselves that we are consistently keeping our word.

Additional features of the Club & Team Accounts include:

• See which MySkatingMall.com members have joined up with your group

• Send auto-filled invitations by email to your club or team members

• Print an auto-filled poster with your group’s name for you to display or email out to members

• Get an auto-filled sample email to send out to group members in order to launch your fund raising campaign

Use the “Invite a Club Member” function to easily add to your team – the more sales your members participate in, the more funds that are raised for your group. Funds from sales on MySkatingMall.com are being distributed to other skating groups right now!

There is NO COST for skating clubs, teams, and charities to raise funds on MySkatingMall.com.  Don’t leave money on the table by sitting on the sidelines.  Register your group today through this link: Club and Team Registration

If your group is already registered, begin using the resources in your Club & Team account to get your members involved. It will likely take several reminders to encourage them to take action but it will be well worth the effort.

Please feel free to contact us at info@myskatingmall.com if you have any questions or concerns about raising funds for your skating club or team through MySkatingMall.com.

Milestones and Holiday Partner Store Promotions!

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Friends,

Thank you so much for making MySkatingMall.com a site that is beginning to fulfill its purpose of supporting the skating community! We currently have 2,670 new and gently used skating items listed on the site by over 650 people. 43 skating charities, most U.S. Figure Skating and Skate Canada clubs, are registered to receive between 2.5% and 87.5% of the sale price of each item bought and sold on the site by their members.

In celebration of this great time of year, several of our Partner Retail Stores have offered special deals to MySkatingMall.com users that will be available until January, 1, 2011. They are:

Kiss and Cry Angels has donated two of their tote bags with all proceeds going to the Memorial Fund.  They are item numbers 2028 & 2029. You can enter “Rink tote free shipping” in the search bar to find these two items.

CherryLoop has free shipping on all orders.

SportMusic has put together a Skating Classics CD of 66 popular skating tracks for $19.95.

IceTimeApparel has a 15% discount for orders of $40 or more, 20% discount for orders of $100 or more.  Coupon codes for these specials can be found on their homepage.

Ballet for Figure Skaters is offering two books together for $20.00 off the regular price and only $14.95 for Priority Mail Domestic Shipping (that’s a total of $34.95 off of the price regular if the books were purchased and shipped separately)  plus a free Medium Weight Resistance band will be included with every purchase made through the end of the year.

Flowerdaze is offering rhinestone skater shirts of different designs for $15.

Pixart Creations is offering a 10% on all purchases if you use the coupon code PIXSKATE when checking out.

Sk8Strong has free shipping for all of December, and 10% off purchases over $60 (promo code on homepage). MySkatingMall members can also be the first to check out Sk8Strong’s new DVDs, “The Skater Evaluation” and “Advanced Competitive Training.”

Remember to start shopping at MySkatingMall.com, log into your account (or create one), and then click on the Partner Store logo for the store you would like to buy from so that your skating charity can receive 5% of your purchase price.

Orders should be in as soon as possible and our Partners will do their best to get it to you before Christmas!

Adam Rippon Donates Outfits for the Memorial Fund

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

RipponFour Continents Champion and two-time World Junior Champion Adam Rippon has once again demonstrated his class by donating four of his Junior and Novice outfits in order to raise money for the U.S. Memorial Fund. His outfits can be viewed through this link: Adam Rippon on MySkatingMall.com.

Adam’s mom, Kelly, included a short note with the skating outfits: “Thank you, and best of luck with this worthy endeavor”.What worthy endeavor would that be???

MySkatingMall.com has set a goal to raise $1,000 for the U.S. Memorial fund by February 17, 2011.  This date corresponds with the national release of U.S. Figure Skating’s documentary RISE. The film will celebrate American figure skating while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team that perished in a plane crash on its way to the World Championships in Prague.

The mission of MySkatingMall.com is to support the skating community. We would like to challenge other skaters to follow Adam’s lead by selling their gently used skating dresses, skating outfits, and skating practice apparel on MySkatingMall.com.  You don’t have to be an elite skater to participate! Simply list your items and choose for 87.5% of the sale price to be given to the U.S. Memorial Fund.

Canadian skaters, don’t feel left out! Remember, you have the option to donate directly to the Skate Canada Athlete’s Fund when listing items:-)

Professional Skaters Association Endorses MySkatingMall.com!

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

LogoEndorsement

This is one of the most exciting developments that has occurred to date for MySkatingMall.com!  The Professional Skaters Association, usually referred to as the PSA, has chosen to endorse MySkatingMall.com.  The PSA is the official coaches education and certification organization for U.S. Figure Skating and the Ice Skating Institute. Coaches from all over the world belong to the PSA in order to enhance their coaching skills.

In order to receive this endorsement, MySkatingMall.com had to be vetted by a committee of PSA members. They were charged with the task to determine if the site was indeed what it claimed to be and if MySkatingMall.com was in the best interest of coaches and their students.  I am pleased to report that MySkatingMall.com really does support the skating community by allowing people to earn money by selling quality used skating items, to purchase gently used items at steep discounts from new prices, and purchase new items from many skating retailers; all while raising money for grassroots skating clubs and teams with every transaction!

If you have been holding off giving MySkatingMall.com a serious look for your skating club, synchro team, or TOI team due to its newness or lack of established credibility, I hope this will give you the nudge you need to move forward.  We welcome groups from Canada, the U.S., and any other country that would like to participate in our fund raising.

Please help spread the word that MySkatingMall.com is here to help to others in the skating community whenever you get the chance.  Thank you!

Skating Magazine Features MySkatingMall.com

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

The article “Bargain deals can be found at www.myskatingmall.com” was recently published on page 44 in the August/September 2010 issue of Skating Magazine! Skating Magazine is the official publication  of U.S. Figure Skating so I am extremely excited that MySkatingMall.com received mention.skating_mag_junejuly2010cvr_medium

The issue highlights Olympian pair skaters Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig on the front cover. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the cover picture for this newsletter:-)

Below is the text from the article in case you don’t have your magazine handy:

“Former U.S. bronze medalist and PSA master-rated coach Ryan Jahnke credits a conversation he had with his father for a new web site that offers the skating community bargain deals on new and used equipment and attire.

“These outfits are in great shape; there has to be somewhere to sell them,” Jahnke’s father told his son one day while looking at a heaping pile of skating-related items that had collected over the years in a closet.

Jahnke took his father’s words to heart, and with his entrepreneurial instincts, founded www.myskatingmall.com.

The web site offers an international marketplace to buy and sell new and used skating items, with an added perk of supporting U.S. Figure Skating teams, clubs and the Memorial Fund as part of the online transaction.

“It is there to open up the closets of all competitive skaters in the world so people are not limited to only buying new items,” Jahnke said.

As a former athlete board member of U.S. Figure Skating and as a coach at the Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado Springs, Colo., Jahnke sees first-hand how difficult it is for individual skaters and teams to meet the financial demands of the sport.

As a remedy to this dilemma, Jahnke used his recently earned degrees in finance and information systems to help launch www.myskatingmall.com. Behind his own money, Jahnke hired web-design pros to develop the site, which he manages on a daily basis.

More than 200 people [currently 397] have registered to buy and sell products on the web site since its launch in March. Jahnke, in fact, sold both his costumes from the 2003 campaign, in which he won the U.S. bronze medal and earned a spot on the World Team.

Unlike other online retail stores, www.myskatingmall.com is a perpetual fundraising opportunity. Those individuals who purchase items from the web site can designate a portion of the purchase price for a club, a team or the Memorial Fund.

“It’s free to register for an account and all the resources are right there to help you [clubs and teams] begin a hassle-free fundraising campaign,” Jahnke said.

Of more than 200 members to date [currently 397], 65 [currently 145] have chosen the Memorial Fund as the beneficiary of their transactions.

“This is something the skating community has needed for a long time,” Olympic champion Brian Boitano said. “I love that it will help many people keep skating and support grassroots clubs and teams at the same time.”  -Jenny Walter

MySkatingMall.com Testimonials Page is now live!

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Read What Others Are Saying About MySkatingMalltestimonials  

 Now that we’ve been up and running for a while, hundreds of individuals in the skating community have been able to experience MySkatingMall.com firsthand.  Some were people who wanted to earn money by selling the closet full of great skating items they have stored away. Others were looking for lower cost options for competition outfits or blades. Many people stop by the site to check out our ever growing list of Partner Stores to see if they can raise money for their club or team through buying from their favorite skating retailers.

It is always exciting for us to receive emails from users of the site.  We’ve put up a Testimonials tab on our homepage to share these emails with you.  If you are still on the fence in deciding whether you want to participate in the MySkatingMall.com community, please read what other skaters and parents have said.

We are interested in hearing comments AND concerns. Several of our ongoing improvements to the site were suggestions from others like you.  If you would like your experience added to our Testimonials page, please email us your note at admin@myskatingmall.com.

Clubs Should Still Have Skate Swaps

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Figure-skates-1MySkatingMall.com is here to help with club fundraising and not to limit it

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify one misunderstanding that has come up several times. Clubs have cited the fact that they have occasional skate swaps which raise money for the club as a reason not to also have fundraising through MySkatingMall.com. The thinking is that if items are listed on the site, then they can’t be sold through the skate swap.

For the record, we highly encourage clubs to continue with any activity that can help them raise the money necessary to support their members. The purpose of MySkatingMall.com is to support the skating community! It is not about us at the expense of others. 

Club members should feel free to bring items already listed on MySkatingMall.com to their club skate swaps.  If they sell, then HALLELUJIA!  The seller and the buyer both benefited.  The seller simply needs to immediately remove the listing for that item from MySkatingMall.com so it won’t be accidently “sold” again:-)

One could say that Clubs and Teams are leaving money on the table if they are not willing to participate in MySkatingMall.com because it could possibly conflict with skate swaps. Skating groups really can have their cake and eat it too by using MySkatingMall.com along with skate swaps.

IceNetwork.com Features MySkatingMall.com!

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

icenetworkpicGreat news! I was just informed that Ice Network published an article about me and MySkatingMall.com. The article talks about how MySkatingMall benefits skaters, skating clubs and skating teams. Take a look at the article by clicking here on IceNetwork MySkatingMall article.

Also, I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your support. Without you, this vision would not have become a reality. 

 Thank you for your time,

Ryan Jahnke
Founder, MySkatingMall.com

Personal Links To Each Member’s Listings!

Monday, July 5th, 2010

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All registered MySkatingMall.com users now have a DIRECT LINK to their listings! Replace “username” in this link with your MySkatingMall.com username and copy it into your web browser:

http://www.myskatingmall.com/username

Put your personal link on your Facebook and other social media pages so your friends can find your listings! In fact, skating club bulletin boards and conversations or emails with other skating  families are other places to use your link.  

This improvement was the suggestion of one of our members and we are interested in hearing more of YOUR ideas. We are here to support the skating community. Just comment on this blog or email us at info@myskatingmall.com with your ideas to make MySkatingMall.com the site you want it to be!